Concern of revealing 'blueprint'

When the Times Herald-Record sent out requests last month for school districts to provide information on security planning, Orange County District Attorney Frank Phillips put out the word: Don't answer.

When the Times Herald-Record sent out requests last month for school districts to provide information on security planning, Orange County District Attorney Frank Phillips put out the word: Don't answer.

"You don't want to give people who might want to do something bad a blueprint of what schools have what," Phillips said, adding that he wasn't trying to be obstructionist. "We don't want to make it easier for people that may want to create an incident or actually attack a school building to have information about what security measures may or may not be in place."

Since the Columbine school shootings in 1999, school officials and law enforcement have worked together to put in place plans to respond to attacks. Years ago, Phillips said, the parties worked out arrangements to make sure that police had floor plans of all school buildings within their jurisdictions; and in many places, police will do informal walkthroughs of school buildings to familiarize themselves with the layouts.

Some of the strategies to improve security are obvious, such as the use of controlled, single-point entry that's now standard at schools.

"We live in a new age, and the Middletown court shooting showed that, up close and personal," Phillips said, alluding to a gunman who attacked City Court in February 2012 and who was shot and killed by court officers.

Strategies for responding to active shooters have changed, too.

"When we first started the school safety plan, it was wait for the SWAT team,'" Phillips said. "Now, it's you're there and you go into the building. You don't wait for the SWAT team."

The primary concern is the safety of students and staff, and that requires preparation.

"It's on the front burner," Phillips said.

"They do these drills annually in every school. The police are part and parcel of it."